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There are 19 low income housing apartment complexes which contain 1,413 affordable apartments for rent in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Many of these rental apartments are income based housing with about 708 apartments that set rent based on your income. Often referred to as "HUD apartments", there are 315 Project-Based Section 8 subsidized apartments in Las Cruces. There are 935 other low income apartments that don't have rental assistance but are still considered to be affordable housing for low income families.

Population and Household Demographics

Las Cruces is a City in Dona Ana County, New Mexico with a population of 101,164. There are 38,925 households in the city with an average household size of 2.55 persons. 44.57% of households in Las Cruces are renters.

Income and Rent Overburden in Las Cruces

The median gross income for households in Las Cruces is $41,330 a year, or $3,444 a month. The median rent for the city is $743 a month.

Households who pay more than thirty percent of their gross income are considered to be Rent Overburdened. In Las Cruces, a household making less than $2,477 a month would be considered overburdened when renting an apartment at or above the median rent.50.55% of households who rent are overburdened in Las Cruces.1

Area Median Income In Las Cruces

Affordable housing program eligibility is always determined by one's income. Each household's income is compared to the incomes of all other households in the area. This is accomplished through a statistic established by the government called the Area Median Income, most often referred to as AMI. The AMI is calculated and published each year by HUD.

HUD often uses an area larger than a city to determine the AMI because HUD anticipates those searching for housing will look beyond individual cities during their housing search. For Las Cruces, the AMI is calculated from all households within Dona Ana County.

In Las Cruces, HUD calculates the Area Median Income for a family of four as $44,700

Most affordable housing programs determine eligibility based on the percent of AMI a given household's income is. Among the programs that determine eligibility based on the AMI are Section 8, HOME, LIHTC, Section 515, 202 and 811.

Rental Assistance in Las Cruces

Rental assistance is a type of housing subsidy that pays for a portion of a renter’s monthly housing costs, including rent and tenant paid utilities. This housing assistance can come in the form of Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, project-based Section 8 contracts, public housing, USDA Rental Assistance (in Section 515 properties) as well as HUD Section 202 and 811 properties for elderly and disabled households.

You can identify apartment communities that participate in a program that provides rental assistance by looking for the Section 202 Supportive Housing for the ElderlySection 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with DisabilitiesRental Assistance PaymentsProject-Based Section 8Rural Development Rental AssistancePublic Housing tags in the apartment list above. View Apartments.

Low Income Housing Tax Credits in Las Cruces

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program aims to create affordable rental housing for low and very low income families.

From 2000 to 2007, 10 low income apartment communities containing 667 rental apartments have been constructed and made affordable to low income persons in Las Cruces by the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program.

You can identify apartment communities that participate in the program in Las Cruces by looking for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit tag in the apartment list above. View Apartments.

If your income is less than 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI), you should not expect to pay more than the rent value for a unit in the table below. However, Affordable apartment communities that receive funding through the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program may have rental units that are not subject to income and rent limits.

Rent limits for the LIHTC Program are determined so that a household making the maximum income for the expected household size of the unit would only pay 30% of their income for rent.

Income Qualifications for Low Income Housing Tax Credit Apartments in Las Cruces

AMI Band

1 Person

2 Person

3 Person

4 Person

5 Person

6 Person

7 Person

8 Person

50%

$18,800

$21,500

$24,200

$26,850

$29,000

$31,150

$33,300

$35,450

60%

$22,560

$25,800

$29,040

$32,220

$34,800

$37,380

$39,960

$42,540

For example, the expected household size for a two bedroom apartment is 3 people. Using the table above, the maximum income for a 3 person household at 60% of the AMI in Las Cruces is $29,040 a year, or $2,420 a month. To determine the maximum rent in the table below we multiply the monthly maximum income, $2,420 by 30% to get a maximum rent of $726 a month.

Rent for units in the LIHTC Program include a utility allowance which is determined by the average monthly cost of utilities paid directly by residents. This allowance has not been subtracted from the rents in the table below. These utility allowances are set on a property by property basis.

% of AMI

Studio

1 Bed

2 Bed

3 Bed

4 Bed

5 Bed

50%

$470

$504

$605

$698

$779

$859

60%

$564

$605

$726

$838

$935

$1,031

Fair Market Rents in Las Cruces

Fair Market Rents, often abbreviated as FMR, can be used to better understand the average housing costs of an area. Notably, Fair Market Rents are used to establish the payment standards for the Housing Choice Voucher Program, maximum rents in HOME financed rental projects and initial rents for Section 8 project based assistance.

2018 Fair Market Rents

Studio

One BR

Two BR

Three BR

Four BR

$534

$612

$753

$1,095

$1,292

Affordable Housing Online has served low income renters in the U.S. for more than 15 years with the most complete and up-to-date info on low income housing, affordable housing, affordable apartments, subsidized housing, Public Housing and Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) waiting list information. We provide current data on more than 77,500 apartment communities containing more than 6,229,000 apartment homes. We also provide detailed information about 4,058 local Public Housing Authorities (PHA) with housing authority contact, program, and current waiting list information - including instructions on how to apply for waiting lists and complete housing applications.